Tales from the Publisher: Embarking on the Checkerboard - Guest Piece by Ben Ravensdale!

As a quick disclaimer- "mileage may vary". In other words, the information I'm presenting here is based on my unique combination of circumstances, opportunities, and happenstance. For some people, the information I share will not align with their experiences. In that case, I ask that you contact me directly and relay your stories and experiences, so that we can discuss the differences and maybe collaborate on another post highlighting the alternate outcomes or options!

I’ve been a gamer almost my whole life.  I’ve wanted to be a writer for longer than that, and recently I realized that I want to be in business for myself.  It was inevitable that I would start working on something that let me combine my creative energies and desire to live a comfortable life.

Creating a distinct logo is essential for new companies.

Early this year, I started up a very tiny publishing business, called Ravensdale Publishing, with the intent of publishing board games that my wife and I have designed.  Because I’ve talked to a lot of people that are trying to do the same thing, I figured sharing the lessons I’ve learned might help out some folks who like the idea of getting into board game design or publishing themselves!  To that end, this is the first installment in a series of blog posts about the process, and whatever information I’ve gathered so far.  First things first – let’s talk about the decision to open the business, then talk about the decision to focus on board games.

The first piece of advice I’d like to impart is: don’t start a business hoping that you’ll find a good product.  Create a product, and form your business around that.  Starting a business costs a few hundred dollars, so it’s not a decision to make lightly.  Even if you do have one good product, you might want to think twice about starting a business.  Are you planning on this being a full-time endeavor?  If so, will one product sustain the business?  You might be better off getting a couple of solid products on paper before moving forward to incorporate your own business.   If you don’t intend to devote significant time to designing and creating more products, consider speaking with an existing publisher or studio that might be interested in buying your idea from you.

My wife and I spent a few months refining our first game before we thought it might be ready to show off in public.  Then, we went to a local game convention to get feedback from people and see how well it was received.  Luckily, it went really well!  People liked the game, and from our first demo we gained a fan or two who have been keeping track of our updates over the last year.  We then started brainstorming ideas for other games that we thought would be easy to design and fun to play.  We ended up with a dozen ideas for various games, and had a couple gems that are currently in development behind the scenes.  Based on that, we decided that we wanted to go ahead and go into business for ourselves, so that we could control our ideas and products.

At that point, we had to create our company.  Creating a company is not as difficult as people might think.  Yes, there are regulations to consider, and laws to be aware of, and decisions to make regarding what kind of company you’re creating.  However, the process can be streamlined significantly by working with a law firm that specializes in incorporating business.  For example, I went through Spiegel & Utrera, a nationwide law firm that assists with a lot of the legal nuances and other aspects of creating a company.  They also offer long-term assistance for their members, which can be invaluable when you inevitably have questions about trademarking logos or copyrighting intellectual properties.


(For the record, I know their website looks sketchy.  They are legit, though, and very helpful!)

Creating Ravensdale Publishing was only the first step in starting a business, however.  We had to consider marketing, establishing fans/customers, selecting a manufacturer for products, and a ton of other decisions.  Most of these will require their own posts to cover in detail, but I want to stress that creating a company and starting a business are two different things, and we’ve only dipped our toes into the actual business side of things.  We’ll keep you updated as we go!

In Villains and Henchmen!, the players get to play
as bad guys, defeating heroes and obstacles
to break their super-villain boss out of prison!

Some of you may be asking, “Why is it called Ravensdale Publishing if you only make board games?”.  And that’s a fair question.  Ultimately, I plan to publish novels and maybe some comic books, so I wanted that goal to be part of my company’s “identity” from the beginning.  Also, don’t forget that board games get published too, just like novels and comic books.  I want to offer publishing services to other game designers who don’t have the desire to pursue self-publishing, but want to release their games to the market.  I’ve met several game designers like that in my local community, so I know there is potential for Ravensdale Publishing to expand its brand and services, even if it’s on a small scale.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to focus on games of my own design for a few reasons.  First, it’s cheaper.  I don’t have to pay a designer for their idea, and then pay for manufacturing, shipping, and marketing.  I get to design the game itself, test it, and decide what the theme and style of the game will be entirely without monetary cost.  Second, I have a number of ideas for games, and I’d rather have the final say in how they work, how they look, and how they are presented to customers.  Third, I feel like board games are easier to promote in person – they’re interactive, and people can decide if they enjoy it by playing a turn or two.  Offering demos of a game is more natural to me than trying to explain my favorite parts of a book in such a way that other people will want to buy said book.

The biggest reason, though, is that it allows me to keep my company’s focus small.  It is much less likely for the costs and effort to expand beyond my ability to manage it as long as I focus solely on my products, and as long as those products are exclusively board games.  Once I’ve got that foundation firmly set, I’ll start looking at publishing other people’s games, and will consider branching out into other print materials.


Thanks for reading!  I’ll be putting up another post sometime in the next few weeks, and I’ll try to follow it up with at least a post per month.  The next post will focus on one of the business elements of creating a board game – manufacturing quotes (exciting, right?)!  In the meantime, folks are welcome to email me if they have any specific questions or feedback!

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